A typical generator includes: a rotor comprising a rotor shaft, field windings, rotor laminations and a collector ring; and a stator, including stator windings, stator laminations and output leads. The stator typically has one or more different stator windings (magnet wires) coiled around its laminations. The stator may include excitation, quadrature, battery charge and/or power windings. These windings (coils) are usually connected to flexible lead wires which electrically connect the stator portion of the generator to the load.
Conventional prior methods of terminating stator magnet wires typically required several steps. First, various types of stator magnet wires coming off the stator portion of the generator had to be identified (each typically identified as winding extensions or coil ends). A flexible lead wire was then spliced to the end of each stator coil magnet wire extension by first cutting the coil magnet wire to length and having the insulation stripped off the wire. A first piece of sleeving was then slipped over the stripped coil magnet wire of the winding extension and a second piece of sleeving, larger in diameter than the first piece of sleeving, was slipped over the first piece of sleeving used to cover the exposed portion of the winding extension. The stripped end of the magnet wire and the stripped portion of a flexible wire were then inserted into a splice connector and placed in the jaws of a compression tool which crimped the connector and wires together. Next, the sleeving was moved over the splice and secured with a nylon tie. The leader wire splice connections were then tied to the stator end turns. Finally, the nylon tie was removed after the splice was secured.
Conventional methods of terminating stator wires frequently required a person to expend a significant amount of time identifying various winding extensions on the stator and properly working with them during assembly of the various connections. These prior methods required such materials as insulation sleeving, magnet wire, stripping tools, compression tools for each size splice, nylon ties, etcetera. Such conventional prior art methods were labor intensive and required a craftsman's level of skill.
Recently, newer methods have been disclosed whereby stator coil magnet wires are run to a terminal housing unit which accepts incoming stator coil magnet wires and provides a connection point for outgoing flexible lead wires. Such a terminal housing is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,397 which discloses a terminal housing that is mounted on a motor stator and has wire-emitting slots which accept stator coil magnet wires directly without the need for flexible wire leads. The terminal housing unit, as disclosed in that patent, also accepts a terminal attached to a lead wire which completes the connection between the stator wire to the lead wire. U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,378 also discloses a stator terminal housing unit which provides solderless connections from the stator winding wires to lead wires which extend from the terminal housing unit. These terminating schemes lack fully desirable components which ensure that proper connections will be made with the terminal housing unit. In addition, these terminating schemes fail to ensure that the structural integrity of the connection will be maintained.
It is desirable to provide an improved stator assembly which includes components for ease of assembly and for maintaining the structural integrity of electrical connections.